§ 59. Mr. BUTTONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the final Report may be expected of the Committee appointed on the 23rd January, 1922, to consider the relations of health insurance and unemployment insurance and to investigate the possibility of reducing the total cost of administration by modifying the unemployment insurance scheme, and by amalgamating unemployment and health insurance cards, records, and, as far as possible, administration; and whether the Committee are considering the possibility of transferring the administration of unemployment insurance to the Ministry of Health?
§ The MINISTER of HEALTH (Mr. Neville Chamberlain)With regard to the 1874 first part of the question, I am not in a position to add anything to the reply given by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade to the hon. Member for Westhoughton (Mr. Rhys Davies) on the 28th February last. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.
§ 63. Mr. R. MURRAYasked the Under-Secretary to the Scottish Board of Health whether he is aware that health insurance committees in England have powers, not conferred upon health insurance committees in Scotland, which enable English insurance committees to pay the expenses of complainers and witnesses attending meetings of medical service sub-committees; and whether such powers can be conferred upon insurance committees in Scotland, in view of the fact that the attendance of complainers and witnesses before the medical service sub-committees is recognised to be, in many cases, essential to a proper judgment of the cause of complaint?
§ Captain ELLIOTWhile it is understood that. the Ministry of Health have authorised the payment by insurance committees of the costs of attendance of complainers and witnesses at hearings by the medical service sub-committee, the position in Scotland is met by the provision made in Article 32 (6) of the Medical Benefit -Regulations for the holding of local inquiries, and the Board have had no representations that this provision has not adequately met the circumstances of any case that has arisen in Scotland.
§ 60. Mr. BUTTONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the relative costs of administration of national health and unemployment insurances per person insured?
§ Major BOYD-CARPENTERThe total costs of administration (central and local) in the two cases are at present.
Per insured person. s. d. National health insurance 6 8 Unemployment insurance 7 1